The Blossom
by samsolace
Summary: MerAlex romance satire following the Slave. It occurs in S2 after the bomb and MerGe. Also after Izzie dumps Alex. Derek unfriendly. 6 to 10 chapters. Satirical humor, not light humor. Meant to work out some GA grrrrrrr! Go Mer.
1. McDouchie Dates Mr Ed

**The Blossom**

**Chapter 1: McDouchie Dates Mr. Ed**

Meredith was low – very, very low. She burned with shame and embarrassment. This had been one of the worst weeks of her life, and there was no where to hide. Everyone knew.

She admitted to herself that she was looking for a place to hide now, and ducked up the stairs to a surgical gallery. She didn't bother turning on the lights in the gallery, knowing that she was invisible to everyone in the brightly lit theater below if she kept it dark. She, however, could see and hear everything from below very clearly. Several nurses and techs were clearing the operating theater after a major surgery. They talked amongst themselves about how amazing Dr. Shepherd had been. That figured, she thought, they were talking about Derek. Hiding from one mess led her straight back into the other.

She found a seat and leaned her aching head back. Life sucked. The next thing she knew, someone was taking the seat next to her. At least he hadn't turned on the light.

"So – hiding?" Alex drawled in a low voice.

"Not very well apparently," Meredith groused, watching two techs wrap up some equipment and then leave, "My alone time lasted all of thirty seconds."

"Come on, Mer, so you had an awful encounter with the baby boy, Ge. Did you really expect _him_ to satisfy you, when you're still obviously waiting for the flirting with Shepherd to turn into something more? Give me a break. You and I both know you are way out of Ge's league. Anyway, no worries, I consider it a sign of improvement," Alex commented off handedly.

"Alex! What the heck are you talking about? How is this an improvement over anything?" Meredith moaned.

"Mer, you were only a little tipsy, instead of drunk, and at least the inappropriate guy wasn't a stranger or married. That's improvement," Alex said facetiously, but with an edge of bitter truth.

"You're joking?! Now?! Alex, this isn't funny. George has moved out after trash talking me all over the hospital. I've lost him as a friend. Izzie is making my home life hell since she's on George's side, and blames me for everything. Cristina is not even speaking to me any more because George has moved into her flat and is busy bonding with Burke. I've lost both Cristina and Izzie as friends. I don't even know why I did it, Alex, except that I was out of my mind with depression," Meredith said morosely, and then muttered to herself, "And now I get to pay big time – like always."

"Ah, Mer, come on, this'll blow over, you'll see. Besides, you dumped Ge, not the other way around. Far better, if you ask me," Alex said bitterly, and then coughed to try to hide it.

"Oh, Alex, what's happened? You and Iz? You're in here hiding too, aren't you? Alex?" Meredith gasped at the look on his face, made even worse from the macabre glow from the lights below, when he turned towards her.

"Izzie and I are through, Meredith. According to her, I'm not even half a man. I'm not good enough for her. I'm not good enough for anyone. She wants that transplant patient, Denny Duquette. She called _me_ heartless, Mer. Funny that she chose a guy who's really almost heartless to replace me," Alex's beautiful chiseled mouth was turned down with pain and his eyes were devastated.

"I'm so sorry, Alex. I knew things weren't quite right between you, but I was hoping for the best."

Meredith tried to think of what else she could say or do for him, but drew a blank. Hadn't Alex just lost the woman he loved? What had anyone been able to say to her when she'd found out Derek was married? What would have helped when he'd chosen Addison over her?

A burst of anger flamed over her when she thought of Izzie being such a nasty hag to Alex when she dumped him. Surely that hadn't been necessary? Alex, under all the irony and bitter truth, had always been such a good guy to Meredith. He was a genuine sweetie who'd obviously been hammered pretty drastically a few times by life. His gentle heart may be hidden under layers of attitude, but it was still there. He loved Izzie. Why couldn't Izzie see him for who he really was? For that matter, why couldn't Derek see her for what she really was – his soul mate?

Meredith tipped over until her head rested on Alex's shoulder, "Hellish Fate scores ten from me and twenty from you, this week, pal. Look at it this way, I'm the one who's really losing though, right? You're still in the running, with only a few bad weeks. Feel better."

"Oh, yeah? How do you get that, genie eyes?" Alex gamely played along, knowing she hurt as much as him.

"Listen up, my friend, while I count up the loser points. Derek, Addison, Mom, Dad, George, Izzie, Cristina and Bailey loser points for me versus Izzie loser points for you – need I say more? Oh wait, I can say more!" Meredith said shamefacedly, "I was stupid enough to believe that Derek would actually care that I almost got blown up from that stupid bomb in a body cavity two weeks ago. I admit I waited for him for days after he came to see me that night, but he never showed up again."

Alex opened his mouth to reply when he realized Meredith's attention was suddenly focused intently on the operating room below. There was only one thing that could distract Meredith that much. Dr. Shepherd, pulling his scrub cap off and leaving his sweaty hair in wild disarray, had reentered the surgery, passing two nurses on the way out.

Alex sat back, resigned to watching his friend make a fool of herself salivating over a married man again. Baby boy Ge had been a fool to believe that Meredith had even a spark of interest in him. The woman was still crazy in love with Shepherd. Meredith had simply been trying to alleviate a little of the ache in her heart with Ge, the way she had with countless, nameless other guys.

At Shepherd's first words Alex's attention was immediately drawn to the floor below.

"Rose, I've missed you," Derek said flirtatiously in his most sexy voice to the last nurse left in the room.

"You say that to all the nurses," Rose said dismissively and pretended to ignore him, but Alex noticed her flaring nostrils and tightening nipples.

Alex and Meredith glanced at each other in surprise. Derek knew a nurse well enough to call her by her first name? Hm. Alex noticed the nurse was Derek's type. She looked like Addison – all big head and hands, googily eyes, and extra large nostrils. Unfortunately, her eyes were also filled with Meredith's adoration, longing and hero worship. A man like Shepherd, utter narcissist that he was, would eat that with a spoon. Hadn't he been stringing Meredith along all this time?

"Dr. Shepherd, no, we can't... Not again... You're a married man," the nurse was obviously very flustered.

Meredith gasped as Derek stepped close behind Rose and pulled off her scrub cap, freeing her dark hair to tumble over her shoulders. He leaned over her, without touching, and sniffed her hair. Rose shuddered at his closeness and a sickening look of infatuation swept her face. Alex shifted uncomfortably as he thought about all the times he'd seen infatuation on Meredith's face. Derek grinned in triumph and murmured low in the nurse's ear. Then he pressed forward against her and Alex and Meredith could see both the surprise and excitement on her face. Derek actually humped the nurse a few times and Meredith gasped again, this time in agony.

"Aw, come on, Rose, wasn't it good last time?" he turned her into his arms and gave her his patented, intense, sexy, _Derek_ look – the one Meredith thought was reserved for _her, _"You're so beautiful, so hot, I just can't resist."

"What about Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd? Or Dr. Grey? You're married and you're my boss, _and_ people say you and Dr. Grey were dating before your wife moved here. Everyone knows she's still totally in love with you ... and you ... you flirt with her ... _Uh, Dr. Shepherd!_" the bimbo almost squealed in protest as Derek nibbled her ear and pressed her back over the operating table, "Oh, oh, you're so bad..."

Alex laid a supportive hand over Meredith's clenched fist as her already broken heart simply shattered at Shepherd's next words.

"If I'm the boss of you, then do what I say and come with me to an on-call room. You and I, we're so good together, we could be soul mates, have you ever thought of that? Addison isn't. I know that. She cheated on me with my best friend, no soul mate would do that, right?

"And as far as Meredith Grey goes, she's a complete whore, not anyone's idea of a soul mate. Haven't you heard about her and George O'Malley? That comes on top of all the one night stands she picks up at Joe's. That girl's a slutty mess who can't let our old relationship go, even though I told her it was over months ago. I'm sure she thinks she'll get in on my surgeries if she makes herself available, you know?

"Addison is frigid as hell in bed and Meredith drives me crazy, chasing me all over the hospital. They're a pain to deal with every day, trust me. Come on, Rose, kiss me and make it better."

Shepherd swooped down to gnaw at the nurse's lips. Nauseated and sick for his friend, Alex could almost see the wheels turning in the nurse's vacuous head. Maybe Shepherd would leave Montgomery and pick _her, _choose_ her, _love_ her_. He said she could be his _soul mate_, after all. Meredith was shaking like a leaf and moaning under her breath as pain wracked her.

_Oh God, oh God, oh God, a whore, he'd called her a whore, a slut, a pain! He was having an affair with a nurse and he was married and he was still stringing her along. She was so stupid, stupid, stupid!_

Meredith jerked her hand away from Alex's and wrapped her arms around herself in humiliated despair. She rocked back and forth, the agony jerking her inside out. Her Derek, the man she loved, was an illusion. She'd made him up out of sheer loneliness, wishful thinking, and neediness. The real Derek was nothing but a complete rotter, a licentious cur, a slimy maggot.

How many other women had fallen for his tired line? Oh, poor Derek, his bad wife slept with his best friend and that justified him flirting and dating other women, including her. Meredith felt like she was going to be sick. She'd believed him – every lying word, look, and deed. She was his soul mate and the love of his life. He wanted to live the rest of his life with her. Yeah, right. She had to be the biggest fool on the planet. Meredith had just thought she was low before, now she was free falling in a bottomless abyss.

"Uncle ... uncle ... uncle," she murmured to Hellish Fate, who was obviously deaf, she thought inanely as the pain continued unabated.

"Meredith ... Meredith, I wish I could help," Alex said, his face a hardened mask as his _amiga_ crumbled.

"Hellish Fate just slam dunked me, Alex," Meredith joked brokenly with gallows humor, "I'm out of the game altogether now. I've got no more points to lose. A big zero."

Alex stood, fists clenched and back stiff, intent on beating the crap out of that slimy bastard once and for all. He'd pull him off that bimbo and smash his smug face in. He didn't care if that dick was his boss as well as his boss's boss. Fury overwhelmed him as his pain and anger at his own situation combined with Meredith's and painted a target on Shepherd's worthless hide.

"No!" Meredith gasped through the trauma, just aware enough to be afraid for her buddy.

"Alex! No!" Meredith said again, fighting to gather herself, when he ignored her and took two more steps towards the door, "You'll lose everything – your place in the program, your license, your freedom – if you do what you're thinking ... I won't let you. That douche bag isn't worth it."

She stepped around him and looked up into his blazing eyes, tears flooding her own.

"I'm totally selfish, Alex, everyone says so," she paused and swallowed painfully, "I can't lose one more thing. And since I've already lost everything but you and my career, that means you have to behave yourself, so you can stick around and be with me in our careers. Get it?"

Meredith waited a beat for his common sense to kick back in. As soon as Alex consciously unclenched his jaw and reluctantly nodded, Meredith felt the starch go out of her knees. She collapsed on the nearest chair, watching the disgusting show below again, almost unbearably mortified, disillusioned and hurt. Her hands were shaking as her nerves burned.

_Life sucks. It just sucks big time. _Meredith wanted to roll up in a ball and die as Shepherd led the empty headed nurse from the room.

"Meredith, c'mere," Alex forced himself to focus on Meredith instead of Shepherd or Duquette.

He lifted her into his arms and sat down to cradle her slim shaking body against his chest. The dam burst and she flooded his throat with hot tears. Her hands twisted into his scrub shirt front pathetically.

"Oh God, Alex, Derek never loved me! All this time, he flirted and teased. I thought it was all Addison! I thought he'd come back to me. I thought he loved me. I really did. I love him. I love him so much!"

Alex felt tears sting his own eyes at her wailing pain.

"It's going to be okay, angel face. I promise, one day it's going to be okay."

"Alex! Oh, Alex, it hurts!"


	2. Oh! Oh! Oh!

**The Blossom**

**Chapter 2: Oh! Oh! Oh! **

Alex and Meredith drove to work together. Alex had moved into George's old room a week after Meredith's fantasy McDreamy world collapsed and Alex was kicked to the curb by the first woman in years that he'd truly loved. Without discussion in the succeeding weeks they'd taken to automatically guarding each other's backs and blind spots. They were like two fencers that constantly circled, blades drawn, back to back, against the outside world. Both battle scarred campaigners were severely wounded, but both were still up and fighting.

Alex, looking utterly cool in his Armani shades and the leather jacket that Meredith had given him for his birthday yesterday, glanced at Meredith's set face and drawled, "So, Izzie moves out tomorrow. Any plans for another roommate?"

"No, I don't think either one of us could stand it right now, and the dividends on Mom's stock will cover the next quarter easily," she admitted, "Alex... you haven't said anything about ..." Meredith couldn't say it.

"Izzie marrying the heartless wonder?" Alex bitterly said for her, "What's there to say? The better man won, right? And now Izzie is throwing away her career to nurse him in his new home next to the hospital along with a million dollars worth of equipment and personnel. The guy's even rich. Who knew?" then a flash of vulnerability shot across his saturnine face, "But did they have to get married on my birthday?"

Alex bit his lip then, instantly regretting the self pity. Then Meredith's dark humor made a ghost of a smile flash across his face.

"When else would Hellish Fate have them do it? The better to kick you in the teeth, wimp, right?" Meredith gently touched his rock hard thigh in sympathy, belying her words. Alex accepted the unspoken sentiment by covering her hand with his for an instant before gripping the wheel of his classic convertible again.

"At least you've managed to avoid a major confront with the douche bag, Mer. You get ten out of ten for your masterful avoidance slaloming. You'd have a gold medal if it were an Olympic event. But you're going into neurosurgery, Meredith. You won't be able to avoid him forever."

"Yeah, well, I mean to continue zigzagging as long as I can. I have no rights. I'm not the betrayed wife, Addison is. I'm just the gullible dirty ex-mistress who believed a lying scumbag every time he opened his mouth. I still can't believe I swallowed all that 'soul mate' malarkey ... whatever. Let's talk about something else," Meredith shook her head, not wanting to run the mental reel of Doze again in her head. Addek had been bad enough.

"Well, who do you think they'll get to replace Dr. Baker as head of Plastics? Maybe the Chief can find someone as good as Mark Sloan. Maybe someone from LA or Chicago," Alex speculated as he parked the car. They were way early to avoid the locker room rush. They'd change and then head for the dining mall to get breakfast together as they had every day since Doze happened right in front of them – Meredith's personal 'D-Day'.

"I don't know, Alex, but it would be easier to work with almost anyone else than crotchety old Baker. Plus, Baker's gotten behind in his techniques. It would be great to have someone on the cutting edge for once in Plastics," Meredith punned as they walked to the entrance in the deep gloom of a quarter to four, "No matter my personal feelings about Shepherd or Montgomery, they're world class surgeons. So are Burke and Mannheim. The Chief is bound to be looking for someone to equal them. I think he must have his eye on someone because he's letting Baker retire early, without protest. I think you're in luck, Alex, really."

"You're not. You're going to be dealing with Shepherd for the next seven years," Alex reminded her grimly.

"Just like I get to deal with Mom and progressing Alzheimer's for the next seven years. Welcome to my life. I'll learn what I can from Dr. Adelmann, Shepherd's seventh year resident, first, and minimize contact with Shepherd as much as possible by covering his surgeries in the gallery when I can. And Adelmann mentioned to me that he'd been offered a position here at Grace after residency. He may stay and then I'd have a great teacher still."

"That's my girl. Slaloming hard, planning out how to make it down the course without touching the flags. But Shepherd won't let you off that easily," Alex warned.

"Alex, I've been thinking about this. He won't care what I do. That was all my wishful thinking. He has no respect or love for me. You heard him," Meredith said wistfully, gulping on the hard truth.

"Yeah, I heard him. What you still don't get is that the dog is a narcissist. He has to be the center of attention. The minute he gets it that you are permanently dropping him he'll be all over you," Alex said cynically.

"Alex, he's married and he's screwing the plant. What does he need me for?" Meredith still wanted to believe she could escape some of the fallout.

"To feed his king sized ego, of course," Alex shrugged, "I can't believe I actually feel sorry for the vagina regina, but I really do."

They'd changed into scrubs and were heading out the door when Alex reminded Meredith, "Remember, you wanted to stop by the on-call room you used yesterday to check for your cell phone. It's the only place you haven't looked."

"Oh, yeah, thanks for reminding me."

They made a quick detour to swing by the on-call room on the way to the cafeteria. Alex pushed the door open and abruptly stopped. He instinctively started trying to back out and protect Meredith from seeing the surprise in front of him.

"Meredith ... ah, no, you don't need to see ...," Alex tried inarticulately.

"What? Is it Doze?" Meredith guessed peering around Alex's shoulder, unable to resist rubber necking at a car wreck, like most of us.

"Oh! Oh! Right! Don't need to see this!" Grey and Karev backpedaled as fast as they could.

Alex slammed the door, grabbed Meredith's hand and ran like hell. They burst into a stairwell, looked up and down and then stared at each other in complete shock. Meredith looked so much like a fish, her mouth a perfect O, that Alex started grinning. Once grinning, he chuckled. Her face cracked into a smile. Then she giggled. Soon they were laughing with an edge of hysteria so hard they had to hold each other up.

"Well, Burke always calls George 'his guy'" Meredith spluttered, "I just never knew he _really_ meant _'his guy'_."

"Burke gay?! I thought, if anything, he was anti-gay," Alex coughed, "Well they say the guys who are all macho stiff can sometimes be the ones who are just hiding their real sexual orientation. Though I could have done without seeing him macho gay stiff!"

"Oh my God! Cristina! She's been so jealous of George lately. I teased her yesterday about George being a better girlfriend for Burke than her! I didn't know it was literal!" and then another thought occurred, "Oh, and I doubt she's been using a condom! She'll have to know, Alex. There's no other way."

They stopped a moment and contemplated everything, digesting the first level of what they'd witnessed, and then Meredith was struck again by another truth.

"Oh my God! George! No wonder sex with him was so disgusting! He had no idea what to do with a woman!" she blurted before she thought.

Alex burst out laughing again at her completely embarrassed expression. She certainly had never said anything so indiscreet about that liaison to him before. 'Disgusting' wasn't a word any lover wanted to hear about his performance, especially weak Ge.

"Alex, you have to promise never to repeat that! Come on! We have to get moving or we're going to be late."


	3. Vogue

**The Blossom**

**Chapter 3: Vogue **

"So, Yang, how's it hanging with Burke?"

Alex grunted from the sharp elbow in his gut from Meredith, then dropped into a chair next to Cristina, who was wolfing eggs and juice down as fast as she could.

"What? Why do you want to know?" she asked suspiciously.

Meredith glared, but Alex couldn't resist, grinning, "Burke's always been kind of stiff, hasn't he? Like he walks around with something up his ..."

"Alex!" Meredith stopped him frantically, looking compassionately at Cristina.

"What's going on?" Cristina looked back and forth between them.

"How about beards?" Alex asked, apparently out of nowhere, "How do you feel about Burke with a beard? No, you wouldn't be much of a beard fan, would you?"

Yang laid down her fork and stared at him.

"Alex, stop being Evil Spawn, right this minute! It's not funny," Meredith insisted, pink cheeked from a combination of indignation for Cristina and containment of her laughter. Alex definitely didn't need that encouragement.

"You're wrong, doll, it is funny – twisted and dark – for sure, but funny. It will be interesting to see how the newest member of the kicked in the teeth club takes it. Remember the 'heartless men are obviously Barbie's type' comment? Or how about the 'Shepherd's gone from dumb to dumber, smarten up and stop whining' comment?" Alex said sharply, then he decided to desist, when he saw pain flash across Meredith's face when he reminded her of her best friend's nasty comment. He hadn't meant to hurt her with his darkness. He'd been almost gleeful over Yang's predicament. Okay, that wasn't good. When would he learn to shut up?

"Alex, let's eat, okay?" Meredith said, as always in favor of avoidance first.

They both started in on blueberry muffins and coffee as Yang, who wasn't stupid but was in love and hero worship, tried to deny her suspicions. Those suspicions had been growing for weeks, ever since baby boy had moved in and taken over her place in her own home with her lover. The Spawn had clearly been bating her, so she slowly made herself go over his words letting them seep through her system and blend with what she already knew. Soon the dam of denial she'd been steadfastly maintaining would break. Without another word she left, leaving an uncomfortable space behind her.

"Alex, you shouldn't have, not like that. You're a better person than that," Meredith said quietly.

"Only you think so, Meredith, everyone else thinks I'm an ass," Karev answered her just as quietly, regretting that he'd behaved badly in front of Mer.

She made him want to be the better man she thought him. Her friendship and support through the whole Dizzie Izzie thing had been all that anyone could have asked. She'd welcomed him into her home, knowing that Izzie would leave, clearly choosing him over Izzie. She'd teased and laughed him out of the sulks more times than he could count. She'd held up his best qualities and chivvied him out of his poor qualities repeatedly.

She was hurt too and she moped, which made a lot of people say she was a whiner, but Alex hadn't seen it that way. She didn't whine about the situation. She just couldn't hide the weight loss she could ill afford, the poor sleep (what little there was of it), and the sadness. She still treated the staff well. She was still there for him as much as she could be and really, what else was she supposed to be? Happy that the dream man she'd loved was really a slimy maggot?

"You aren't an ass, Alex," Meredith said staunchly, and then paused thoughtfully, studying him, "... except when you are."

Alex just shook his head at her when she giggled. He liked hearing that happy sound, even if it was at his expense. He grinned as a frisson of interest shot straight to his manhood when Meredith spontaneously leaned over and kissed his cheek. Yep, everything was in working order, and the interest Meredith had sparked in him from the moment he met her had just fanned a little brighter.

After breakfast they made their way to the nurses' station to meet Bailey for rounds. Bailey only had four interns to shepherd, now that Izzie was taking a leave of absence from the program to nurse Denny.

"How weird is it going to be to see both George and Cristina in the same place at the same time after what we just saw?" Meredith fretted as they entered the elevator.

Alex opened his mouth to answer but closed it again when Shepherd and Montgomery entered the lift after them. Addison was taller than everyone there in four inch heels, making her six two. Shepherd gave Grey the sexy McDreamy eyes and face behind Montgomery's back, like he had for months, expecting her to melt like always. Her non-reaction completely nonplussed him. In fact she daintily yawned behind her hand and murmured something to Karev instead of responding to him.

"Okay, that was a good effort," Mer commented under her breath.

"Yeah, the Russian judge is giving him a six point eight for technical and a seven point two for artistic," Alex didn't bother lowering his voice. As far as he was concerned the perfect couple could listen in if they wanted to.

"Alex ..."

"I know, I know."

Shepherd maneuvered to be closer to Meredith but she stepped at the same time, seemingly randomly, to place the redhead between them. He stopped and frowned, again unable to believe that Meredith wasn't fawning on him. He chose his pose number 9, a sexy lean against the elevator wall with one hand on the rail and his ankles crossed. That had never failed to win him adoration before. Meredith pulled a tissue from her lab coat pocket and blew her nose, turning away from him politely, seemingly not noticing his best effort.

The door slid open and Karev shouldered past him saying, "Dude ..." with a 'that's pitiful' look on his face. As he followed Meredith, Karev deliberately bumped Montgomery.

"Oh excuse me," he said casually on his way out, "Maybe you need some coffee, Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd. You still seem asleep."

The Shepherds stood in the elevator and stared after the interns until the doors clanged shut in their faces.

Meredith and Alex slowed as they approached Bailey. Where were the other two? Bailey harrumphed and grumpily ordered them to tell Yang and O'Malley to _move it! _They had three minutes.

Meredith quickly ducked through the locker room door and gaped. She was just in time to hear Cristina ordering Bambi to move out of her apartment. Ge whined that he didn't have to as long as Burke wanted him there and believe him, Burke wanted him there. Ge took care of Burke unlike Cristina. He was 'his guy'. Meredith suppressed a chortle at that, but the combatants still heard her. They both whirled and approached her.

"What did you say to Yang, Meredith?!"

"George! I didn't ..."

"You couldn't wait to tell her about Burke and me, could you?!"

"Meredith! What about Burke and Bambi?!"

"Cristina! I wanted to say ... You needed to know ... But, George, I didn't say ... Oh, God," Meredith petered out, "You and Burke should tell her, George. Don't keep lying."

Red faced and sweaty, George snorted to Cristina, "Fine! I'm Burke's guy. He wants me , not you!"

Cristina was still stunned, even though she had suspected for a long time, "What?"

"Ge is Burke's bitch, Yang," Alex said it baldly.

Cristina looked wildly between them.

Meredith nodded, "It's true, Cristina, we saw them together less than half an hour ago."

Cristina's face froze and she quietly looked at her feet, her right hand twitching.

George, with typical stupidity, chose that moment to gloat, "I guess I am the better girlfriend, after all, huh, Yang?"

Before her name was all the way off his tongue he was squealing like a stuck pig. Cristina had girl attacked him with both hands slapping him hard all over his face and head. When he ducked to avoid her, she snatched two fistfuls of his poorly cut hair and pulled with all her strength, ripping great wads out of his head by the roots. Ge tried to swing at her but got her knee in the crotch instead. He went down like a ton a bricks then. Cristina wasn't above kicking him a couple more times when he was down. In the end she only stopped when Karev and Grey finally managed to overcome their shock and pull her off.

"Cristina!"

"Shut up, Meredith, I'm not talking to you!" said Yang storming out.

Meredith looked from Ge crying on the floor to Alex laughing on a bench.

"When did Burke and George having an affair become my fault?" she asked in bewilderment.

"Didn't you know, Meredith Grey? Everything is always your fault. It's your fault Shepherd's a lying, cheating, scumbag whore too. You should be in therapy to make it all better for him. The powers that be say so," Alex said as he stood up, "Don't look so shocked, _chica_."

Alex leaned over and kissed her on the lips, "Hm, now that? That's on me."

"Rounds!" yelled Bailey from the doorway.


	4. Intensification

_**QA: No, I haven't jumped the MerDer ship. I still love them. I just get cranky when Derek is with Addison or Rose. **_

_**My husband calls George 'Ge' pronounced 'Guh'. He hasn't been our favorite character since he behaved so badly after MerGe. **_

_**I don't hate Derek, but I do hate being lied to, strung along, betrayed as a fan, bored, etc. by the creators and writers of my favorite show. I also hate the fact that all the crap is always all placed at Meredith's door, no matter what. Shondaland Derek isn't responsible for anything, and his words "spend the rest of my life with you" "soul mates" "I'm in love with you" "love of my life" etc. are all meaningless and empty. Grrrr!**_

_**I still write MerDer and when they are back together at the end of S4, I'll be glad. **_

_**sam  
**_

**The Blossom**

**Chapter 4: Intensification**

A month later Meredith dragged off work at eight o'clock Friday night. Bailey's interns were scheduled for a rare entire weekend off, not due back until Monday morning in time for rounds.

_Yay_, she thought tiredly, looking for Alex in the lobby. They'd carpooled as usual.

Burke, with his arm around George's shoulders, walked past Meredith looking happier and more relaxed than she'd ever seen him. And George was smiling adoringly up at Preston. They were a really happy couple. Who knew? The sexual debacle George had had with Meredith had made him admit once and for all that he wasn't inclined towards women, and he'd finally accepted Burke's unsubtle advances. And, apparently, life outside the closet suited Burke.

Cristina had moved out into her own place, and was also happier living in her own messy pigsty instead of Burke's sterile apartment. She'd conned Burke, while he was still fresh with guilt and embarrassment, into promising her continued coveted first intern status on most of his surgeries. That was what she cared most about and she didn't lose it, so that was good.

The only thing that gave away her pain over her lost relationship, was the way she still coldly ignored George O'Malley. He'd been dead to her the moment she was done bitch slapping him. George had been violently physically attacked, but he'd been too humiliated to admit he'd been beaten up by a woman to do anything official about it. Besides, he had Burke, when Cristina didn't, and that was enough of a recompense for him. George had tried a few overtures in the spirit of past friendship, but Cristina had repulsed every one.

_Poor George_, thought Meredith, _poor Cristina_.

Meredith was just glad that they'd each eventually started talking to her again. She supposed Cristina finally got the irrationality of blaming Meredith but it had been uncomfortable for a while. It helped that Meredith was in the same boat, having lost Shepherd before Cristina lost Burke. And George admitted to Meredith that without their horrible encounter it might have been months more before he admitted the truth, so he thanked her for telling him the truth when other women had obviously lied to him.

Meredith shrugged tiredly and looked for Alex again. He was her cushion and her bulwark. He was the only person who knew every miserable detail about Derek or cared. He'd been there day and night for the last two months through thick and thin. Even helping with her mother occasionally. She just hoped she'd been as much support to him. She knew she'd tried.

They'd also settled in together as if they'd been made to order to fit. It was surprisingly easy to live with Alex. He was affectionate and warm to her, the way he'd always been, but even more so. He didn't chatter or judge like George or Izzie, and he gave her a lot more personal space. They were equally neat, so that helped, and they didn't have to share a bathroom, another help. Alex hated laundry and Meredith hated cooking so they quietly exchanged jobs and now Meredith did all the laundry and Alex did all the cooking. Yay. Alex's dark humor also helped. Meredith didn't want to admit it, she wanted to be a better person, but sometimes his nastiness was just what she needed to make herself feel better. Then she rallied and eased him out of the worst of his bitterness, and they both felt better.

"Hey, genie eyes, been waiting long?" Alex asked, dropping a casual kiss on her cheek.

Meredith smiled, her heart instantly lighter, "No, not too long, but let's get out of here before our weekend off gets jinxed."

"Okay, wanna start with Joe's?"

"Oh, Alex, it's been so long since we've been out! Let's go!"

They started for the front doors, Alex stuffing some papers in his bag, when Alex abruptly stopped, "Damn it!"

"What?"

"I forgot, I was supposed to give these to the She-Shepherd hours ago. That hell hound is going to have my guts for this. Come on, maybe she's still in her office," Alex said, turning to climb the stairs.

"Not likely, Alex, you know the She-Shepherd sticks to an eight to five schedule," Meredith said with a touch of envy.

"Well, we'll see. I'll put them in her box if she's not in her office. Sorry for the delay, Mer," Alex huffed as they ran up another flight of stairs.

At Addison's door they paused long enough for Alex to knock before he pushed the door open, calling her name, never expecting to actually find her there.

"Oh, wow, uh, sorry ... leaving now," Alex stumbled over his tongue as he hastily backed out, pushing Meredith back too as she simply stared with big, round eyes at the sight in front of her.

Alex slammed the door and stared at Meredith, "Not again, I can't believe we did it again."

"Alex, let's get out of here, now!" Meredith insisted, shocked almost beyond rational thought. All she wanted was to flee.

They started back down the hall rapidly, but then Alex remembered the report again. He swiftly bypassed to Addison's box, dropped it in, and then ran after Meredith, who was making a beeline for Joe's.

Alex ordered two frosty draft beers, two salads and a couple of burgers, before Meredith had a chance to even think of a tequila. She wrinkled her nose at him and went to find a free table. Joe had recently taken to providing live music on Friday and Saturday night, and her stunned mind appreciated the loud music from the three piece cover band in the corner. It helped numb her, but nothing could erase the TMI pictures of the Adder, naked, and mounted on ... no, don't think about it.

Alex wound his way to her through the increasing crowd carrying their beers. Some of the shock had worn off and he was shaking his head and darkly laughing at the absurdity of SGH and all it's denizens. There was enough fodder for six daytime soaps, ten full time therapists, and three porn websites. Who was going to have sex with whom next? No, he didn't want to know ... really! Alex thought, painfully flashing on McDouchie gnawing Mr. Ed, Burke grinding Bambi, and now ... Satan's Whore riding ... the Chief – of all people, the Chief. Good God.

"Alex, I need my eyes washed out. No ... my brain ... I need my brain washed out. Oh my God," Meredith moaned, "Did we really just see the Adder and the Chief ...?"

"Yep, we'll call them Chedder, for too much sheer cheese, or, no, I have it, Cheider, pronounced like Cheater, get it?" Alex sneered and took a swig, "What?! It's better than the Wadder, which is the other choice."

The numbness broke and Meredith gurgled with bad girl laughter. Alex could be such a bad boy sometimes. Her exhausted system relaxed with laughter and food and drink enough that when Alex asked for a dance, she was ready. This was different than the ballroom stuff they'd done before. So far it was a pop rock cover band so they danced in that style. Grinning, Alex pulled Meredith close and then raised his arms over his head while teasing her with his hip motion. She liked it enough to return it in kind and soon the two of them were playing a dangerous game of dancing tempt and tease, heating each other's blood in a way they'd avoided up until now.

Meredith looked into Alex's handsome face and loved how real he was, nothing hidden, no lies, unlike someone who would remain McNameless. She also loved his chiseled jaw and muscular Calvin Klein model good looks. Alex watched Meredith and was utterly turned on by the contrast of her free sexuality and shy smile. Witnessing another strange liaison at SGH had somehow uncorked a wildness between them. They were dancing it out, song after song, mixing laughter with teasing talk and sexy moves.

Meredith was having more fun than she'd had since D-Day. In fact, the higher her relationship meter went with Alex, the lower it sank with Derek. Time, Alex, and replacing her rose colored glasses with Rose colored glasses was healing her of wasting her love on Shepherd, the dog. Seeing Shepherd joined by She-Shepherd in the corner table made Meredith snicker. What a marriage those two had. They truly deserved each other. Alex shifted closer to her and drew Meredith's attention back to him with a silly face and a quick kiss on the lips.

"It's not about them anymore, all the good stuff is right in front of you. Let me know when you're ready, 'kay?" Alex invited and kissed her for real this time, "Cuz I'm getting' there."

Alex's mouth closed over Meredith's slightly open, surprised mouth and he gathered her into his strong arms. After a second of surprised resistance Meredith melted. Alex tasted so good. She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him back, still swaying to music. His chest was hard and deep, pressed to her breasts, and his male interest pressed to her belly. Meredith caressed her hands across the back of his head and his shoulders, enjoying his leaping physical response. But ...

"It's too soon," she murmured against his lips.

"I know," he whispered back, "For me too."

He dipped his head and gave her another luscious kiss, then said, "It won't be long though."

"No, no it won't."

They pulled back from each other and grinned. Then Meredith yawned and Alex laughed.

"You need bed, and, unfortunately, I mean alone. Let's go."

"Yes, I'm ready to go, but excuse me for a moment first," Meredith said and wound her way to the back to the restrooms.

She was waiting in the inevitable line at the women's room when she felt someone breathing on her neck. Ew. Meredith turned to look and was drenched in her erstwhile McDreamy's deep blue gaze. For an instant she drowned happily in the illusion of '_we're_ _soul mates_' and then regained her senses and fought frantically back to the surface of reality. She was resolved to never drown in his lies again. It was just too painful a suicide.

"What do you want, Dr. Shepherd?" Meredith questioned as neutrally as she could.

"So, first O'Malley and now Karev. You really get around, don't you?" Shepherd's tone was nasty.

Meredith stared disbelievingly. _He_ was upset by _her_ dating? Then she remembered Alex telling her that Derek's giant narcissistic ego would never let her go easily no matter how many other women he had on a string – no matter that he was married.

"Not nearly as much as you, Dr. Shepherd, but I would never dream of bringing that up to a coworker. Besides being none of my business, since our personal relationship ended when your wife introduced herself to me, that would be sexual harassment, wouldn't it?"

Whatever Shepherd expected from her it wasn't that. He found he couldn't hold her clear green gaze longer than a second. Meredith decided she'd had enough and left McDouchie standing in line with six women waiting for the ladies' room.

_That's so ironically suitable_, she thought, on her way back to Alex.


	5. Oh No, You Didn't!

_**Yes, we're going darker, twistier, nuttier. It's that kind of day.**_

**The Blossom**

**Chapter 5: Oh No You Didn't **

The next morning Meredith woke from a lovely sound sleep rested and happy. It wasn't until she was creaming her face clean that she remembered the cur's perfidy. She felt painfully awful for a few seconds before it died back to a sad deep ache and then she grinned at herself in the mirror. She was getting over him – she really was.

And, if she weren't mistaken, that smelled like Alex was cooking a huge breakfast downstairs. It was definitely her lucky day. Sick of scrubs, Meredith dressed in a lime sherbet green, long sleeved, close fitting T, with a royal purple, short sleeved, crop top pulled over it. The wild colors made her smile. For once she didn't feel dark and twisty. Alex called her to breakfast and Meredith hurriedly slid into velvety soft black cords. She checked how they looked on her trim rear and smiled. Definitely keeper pants.

_Maybe Alex will like them,_ was the stray thought that crossed her mind and she grinned, _Alex would definitely like them._

She ran a brush through her streaky, honey blond hair and ran down the stairs, eager, for once, to meet the day. It was fun to leisurely share hot tea, orange juice, and sour cream pancakes topped with bananas and maple syrup with someone like Alex. He could laugh and tease; snark and snarl; as well as chill and veg easily as the mood struck them. This morning was a chill and veg in silence a.m. Meredith was busy moaning over her delicious food while Alex read the paper, seemingly ignoring her orgasmic delight. But Meredith knew he was playing. He couldn't hide the deep slashing dimples that creased his face as his amusement mounted over her antics. Done, Meredith rose to clear the table. She paused next to him and kissed his dimple when it flashed her again.

"Mm, thanks for the yummmmy treat," she sexily breathed all mapley and sweet.

The next thing she knew the paper was discarded and Alex had pulled her into his lap for a real maple flavored kiss. Alex wound his blunt tipped fingers into Meredith's long locks and held her head for his descending mouth. His lips were mouth wateringly beautiful and tasty, and suddenly Meredith couldn't get enough of them. She kissed him, soft and sweet, and again hard and deep. Evidence of Alex's rise to maturity pressed against her bottom and reminded Meredith the hazards of playing teen aged games with grown men. Alex felt her withdrawal and smiled as he let her go.

"I'm a patient man, Meredith Grey," he drawled, lightly running a hand over her arm, "but you should know I play to win."

"We will," she affirmed, "I'm such a lucky girl."

"You are, and you're also a smart ass," he growled and grabbed her ass, just because.

She shrieked and twisted away, but every time she circled around him cleaning the kitchen she managed to get a naughty, teasing touch in.

They spent the rest of the day still in chill and veg mode, alternating with play and tease mode, not doing anything that required much thinking, but necessary chores, spiced with flirtation. Meredith dusted and vacuumed, earning a warm hand on her butt when she bent over, so she bent over again. Alex mowed the lawn shirtless, titillating her, so Meredith read a book in her hammock for a hour at the hottest part of the day in a halter bra. Her nipples tightened in the cool breeze to a very eye catching display just for him, giving a more literal meaning to the word titillate. And she didn't even mind that he mowed the same patch of grass six times just to look. Meredith caught up on laundry and filled Alex's closet and drawers, feeling very domestic, while Alex grocery shopped and put gas in their cars.

It didn't sound like much, but it was quiet and peaceful and sexy and rejuvenating for them both. Just what they needed after three straight weeks without a full day off. Tiny threads of togetherness in all forms were weaving between Alex and Meredith bringing them closer and closer. These were threads that neither had with Izzie or Derek, or anyone else for that matter. Circumstances two months ago had finally forced the two of them together with no one else blocking their burgeoning relationship and the spark of attraction and interest that had been there from the start. Both of them wryly joked about Hellish Fate, but maybe this time there was a happier, kinder hand involved.

They talked about their patients a little, but they avoided the hospital gossip like the plague. Neither were gossip mongers, which was really a shame when you thought about all the juicy material coming their way lately. After dinner they headed out to the movies. They chose the latest graphic novel made into a movie and settled in their seats with popcorn and soda, Alex's arm naturally around Meredith's shoulders. Then they headed to Alex's favorite jazz club and polished off beer and huge, soft, salty pretzels there. They sat close and Meredith was highly aware the whole time that Alex played with the ends of her hair, set after dark, smoky set. Her sensitive flesh rippled with shivers from her nape to her woman's mound, making her twist in her seat and lean into his hands.

Alex had no problem with that. His only concern was that he didn't want to be a 'band aid on the scrape' guy, like so many others had been for Mer. He wanted whatever grew between them to be real. So he waited for the right time.

_Maybe tonight?? _Alex speculated as he drove them home. He glanced over at Meredith and smiled, she made him feel like he could do anything, be anything. Meredith Grey believed in Alex Karev, and that helped him believe in himself. _Well it's mutual,_ Alex thought, _I believe in you too, Meredith Grey, you're an amazing person, whether you know it or not._

They slowly walked up the steps to the front door_, _Meredith almost melting under Alex's arm, but came to a surprised halt when they saw the front door wide open.

_What the hell?_

"Alex, stop, we need to go back to the car and drive away. We can call the police on my cell."

"Meredith, what kind of robber leaves the front door wide open and turns on the lamp?" he asked, looking back at her, "Not to mention, there's music."

He stepped inside and stumbled over an empty liquor bottle.

"Hey!" Meredith exclaimed indignantly from the porch, spying two more, "Someone's cleaned out the liquor cabinet. It's got to be Izzie, George or Cristina!"

Before Alex could stop her for safety, in case they were wrong, she marched in and flipped on all the downstairs lights. Angrily, she turned in the brilliant light, to confront one of her friends over poor boundaries. She took four quick steps and stopped dead, her eyes bleeding and her stomach heaving. Ew. Ew. Ew. The last time she felt like this she'd been involved in MerGe. Gross.

Passed out drunk, Izzie was lying naked in the floor, obscenely splayed over Meredith's great aunt's _petit_ _point_ pillows with her big boobs pointed into the air. George was also naked, lying in two disgusting pools of ... Meredith decided she didn't want to know ...

_Oh my God, Oh my God,_ _Gizzard!! Maybe not, _Meredith told herself in denial, thinking that not even Hellish Fate could be so cruel. She couldn't help looking again and there was no doubt,_ ew!_

Meredith heard a strangling sound behind her and whirled to see Alex, ashen faced, pain and disgust coupled with disbelief stamping his chiseled features. She flew to him, intent on protecting him, but the damage was already done. He turned and stormed out the door, needing to get as far away as possible from everyone, the last of his love for Izzie ashes on his tongue.

_That did it,_ thought Meredith, turning back around and pushing up her sleeves, her temper flaring to it's rare, white hot, Ellis Grey temperature.

"Izzie! George! Wake up! Get up!" she yelled.

They stirred, but neither really moved, and Meredith wanted them gone – now! She marched into her kitchen and grabbed her dust mop, a lined trash can, and two bottles of ice cold water out of the refrigerator. With no wasted movement she spun and marched back into her trashed living room. Meredith dashed the water in Izzie and George's faces and then started poking them with her mop to get them going. As soon as Izzie sat up and heaved, Meredith thrust the trash can into her hands.

"George, wake up," poke, poke, "get up!"

"Mer .. Meredith," moaned Izzie, "for the love of all things holy, stop shouting," and she vomited again.

Then George joined her. Ew. Meredith had been through many miserable nights of emesis after drinking too much, so normally she'd have been sympathetic, but this!

"How could you! In my house! With my liquor! Naked! In front of Alex, Izzie!" Meredith started low and by the time she was done she was shouting at the top of her lungs and bashing them both with the dust mop, "Get your nasty, naked selves up and cover it! Now!

"When I think of all the sanctimonious speeches and juvenile judgmental looks I've had to endure from you two over the last year, I want to scream! Who's the whore now, George?! Who's the drunken slut now, Izzie?! What is wrong with you two?!"

Izzie finally got the hint, yeah it was a whack across the tush, and pulled up her pants to cover it. Meredith threw her blouse in her face and Izzie laboriously jammed her arms through the arm holes, not noticing that the blouse was inside out. She just held it closed with one trembling hand, blinking owlishly at Meredith.

George finally stuffed his tiny offerings behind his zipper and got his pants closed without castrating himself.

He grinned drunkenly at Meredith and said, "I'm a stud ... a studly stud, that's what I am... a studmuffin. It's obvious that everyone wants to do me. I've bagged 'em all ... I'm a hunter, yeah ... Olivia, check," he made a big check mark in the air, "Meredith, check," Meredith cringed, "Dr. Torres, check; the She-Shepherd, check," Meredith gagged and goggled, "Mr. Henderson in room 419 with the extra big ... you know ... check; Mr. Graves in 320, check; Mr. ... well, I'll just say ALL the most unlikely patients and their families, check," he made a huge, exaggerated air mark, "Cristina, check; Burke, check, check, check; Izzie, check; okay, I feel good, check ... the stud, check, oomph! Ah! What'd you do that for?" the stud whined as he got another dash of ice water in the face and a big shaggy dust mop to the gut.

"George O'Malley, you miserable creep, I'm calling a cab for you and Izzie. You have one minute to finish getting dressed and then I'm shoving you out the door!" Meredith firmly dialed her phone. Then hung it up. George and Izzie had a task to do before she threw them out.

"But, Mermermermer ..." George trailed off into a drunken torpor.

"What!"

"I had a fight with Preston, I can't go home," he pouted, "He's so controlling. He wants me to stop being Seattle Grace's stud."

"I had a fight with Denny too, Mer, I'm moving home," Izzie hiccupped, "All I said was that Denny's best friend's wife was completely unsuited to her husband. Anyone could see he was way too pretty for a dog like her. Of course, I said it to Denny, and then I repeated it to his friend and his wife when they showed up later. What?! They needed to know. I had to tell them they needed to get divorced immediately. And Denny got mad."

Meredith ignored that nonsense and marched to the kitchen for cleaning supplies. They were both mostly dressed when she came back out, thank heavens, so Meredith pointed at the nasty messes on the floor.

"Hey! Stud muffin! Loudmouthed, mean beeatch! Here! Take this and clean up that mess! There's a puddle for each of you! Now!" Meredith gathered throw rugs and stuffed them in the washing machine, holding her breath the whole time. She sighed as she started the machine and headed back into her front room. The place would need to be thoroughly cleaned and aired and if there was puke or anything else on her grandmother's Aubusson carpet, she'd ... grrr. Meredith didn't finish the thought, too upset to think.

_Where was Alex?_

She knew he'd be okay, and she knew he couldn't have stayed through all this, but she missed him. She was growing accustomed to his presence at her side. Resolutely, Meredith called a cab. She searched all of George and Izzie's belongings until she found not one, but two unauthorized duplicate keys to her house. She calmly took a hundred dollar bill from Izzie's purse for the booze, and the sixty dollars she found in George's wallet for the cleaning she was going to have to do. Then she pushed the intruders out the door, and down the steps with her mop.

"Take this one to this address and give the man that lives there this note. He'll give you five hundred dollars. Then do the same at the next address for the other one and the man there will give you another five hundred. Thanks," Meredith said to the cabbie, slamming the car door closed and brushing her hands together.

_Good riddance._

Meredith spent the next two and a half hours cleaning her living room, the entry hall, the bathrooms, and even the front porch. Alex still hadn't returned and that made her sad. When her world had crumbled, Alex had been there. She'd wanted to be there for him. Just as she was starting up the stairs, seeking her bed, the front door opened and Alex was back.

"Hey, you," she murmured.

"Hey," he said a little shamefacedly, "Sorry I left you with the drunk Bobbsie twins. I needed to walk it off."

"I know, Alex, believe me, I know. There's nothing to be sorry for."

"You're going to bed?" he asked, relieved that with Meredith there was no pressure.

"Yeah, I'm really tired. We'll talk in the morning okay? 'Night," she started up the stairs again.

"Meredith, there's one thing that won't wait."

She looked over her shoulder.

"I'm a lucky guy."


	6. Hellish Fate's Last Straw

**The Blossom**

**Chapter 6: Hellish Fate's Last Straw**

Incredibly busy weeks went by with very little time off. Meredith and Alex spent most of their spare time, all five minutes of it, studying for first year resident exams. They were each determined, as never before, to pass a test. Internship had been a special kind of Hellish dish served up by Hellish Fate and no one wanted a second helping. Study groups were meeting all over the hospital at all hours of the day and night and they attended every one of them that they could.

Additionally, Dr. Webber had scored a major coup by hiring Dr. Mark Sloan, himself, as the new head of Plastics. Alex was beside himself trying to learn as much as he could from him. Sloan was an abusive ass, but Karev sucked it up, because he wanted it so bad. It almost doubled his load and Meredith worried for him. She tried to help him as much as possible, but Sloan was really impossible.

At home they studied together, but the fire between them had been banked. They'd been scarred by too many distasteful, adulterous sex scenes between unlikely and ill-matched people. How can true love burgeon in such a farce? Yet they were both confident it would, given time, and proper pacing. They were in no hurry. They had six more years as residents so what was the need to jump from bed to bed?

That said, Meredith could barely stand to look at George, let alone be in the same room with him any more. Addison and Ge? Cristina and Ge? Izzie and Ge? And worst of all – herself and Ge. She couldn't speculate about what had happened with the Adder, but she knew exactly when Ge had weaseled in and taken advantage of Cristina in a weak moment. It had been that night they'd all gotten drunk at the party at her house. She'd been seduced by Derek in his car and Cristina must have given in to Ge somewhere in the house. He was a sick, weasely opportunist.

And Cristina? Meredith wanted to rub Cristina's face in it for all the times she'd harangued Meredith for breaking rules and being stupid while doing the exact same things herself. Sleeping with inappropriate people, like her boss (actually two of her bosses if rumors about her affair in med school with another cardio-God were true), getting drunk and being stupid, and covering up for all of Burke's mistakes repeatedly. She got away with it all – never held accountable for anything.

Meredith sighed. Unfortunately, Cristina had also lost the man who'd sworn he loved her. Meredith wouldn't have wished that on her worst enemy, let alone Cristina, but she wouldn't have been human if she hadn't been a tiny bit glad that Cristina was finally paying some karma for her actions.

Izzie, who'd always been first in line to judge and butt in, was out of sight most of the time, having slunk back to Denny after having lost it. She was busy now judging herself as harshly as she usually judged others. That was an eye opener. Meredith never said another word to her about the midnight fiasco at her house but the nasty tape in Izzie's head went off a million times a day. She'd condemned Meredith for the MerGe and now she had no choice but to condemn herself for the Gizzard, because George was never held accountable for his actions either, much like Cristina. It was all Izzie's and Meredith's fault.

Meredith ran up the stairs, avoiding the elevators, since Derek lurked there, trying to catch her alone and off guard a lot of the time. He was persistent, trying to get her attention. Bored to death with the plant, he'd come back around to Meredith again, but this time she wasn't having it. He actually thought he could keep going to other women over and over and she'd always be there when he came back. He was so arrogant he believed that he could screw her over repeatedly and she'd come back for more like a whipped dog, without an ounce of self worth or self esteem.

Meredith shook her head. No. Ain't gonna happen. She didn't want him anymore, she told herself. But there he was, slouched at the head of the stairs, impossibly cute with his dark curls tumbled over his forehead and his sleekly muscled body looking fabulous in his dark blue scrubs. Meredith's unruly heart leaped even though her mind said 'no'.

"Meredith, not taking the elevator these days?" Derek grinned and of course posed sexily.

"Ah ... no ... I ... couldn't wait. I'm in a hurry to get ... these reports to Dr. Bailey," Meredith's hormones were dancing a jig.

_No,_ she thought, _I am not falling for his two hundred watt lying smile and slick sexy pose again._

But her heart longed for him and her wishful neediness for a fantasy soul mate rose again. Oh, she ached.

_If only ..._ Meredith leaned towards the phony, against her will.

Derek smiled the sleazy grin he practiced in the mirror, designed to get his way with all women and most men, and leaned towards the stupid little intern.

"Dr. Grey! Reports, today, Grey!"

God bless Dr. Bailey and her abrupt impatience. Meredith jumped out of her skin, and when she entered it again, she was back in her right mind and her sad heart was reminded once again that it was in love with a mirage. The real man was a jerk. Right. When would she really get that?!

Meredith had to remind herself over and over that day that she didn't want him anymore. It got so bad that finally a constant, silent prayer ran through her head, _Please help my heart let him go... Please help my heart know the truth... Please free me from unhealthy obsession... Time, _she thought, _that's all I need. Time to heal._

"Hey," said an exhausted voice behind her later that day.

Meredith looked up from her lukewarm soup and wryly smiled as Alex collapsed into the chair beside her, banging his tray clumsily on the table.

"Uh, sorry," he grunted as she winced at the clatter.

"Oh, Alex, you look terrible," Meredith said sympathetically, "Is Sloan really that bad?"

"He's a cross between Atilla the Hun, Ted Baxter, and Don Juan, but, man, you should have seen that mandible reconstruction he just did. He actually does all the work I've only read about before. His technique's amazing," Alex didn't immediately attack his food as he normally did. Instead he yawned and stretched back in his chair, exhausted.

"Alex, we don't have to go by the nursing home on the way home tonight if you're too tired," Meredith offered, "I'll drive myself tomorrow and visit her after work."

"No, I'm fine," Alex shook his head, "I'll still take you tonight, but let's just keep it short, okay?"

Meredith nodded in acknowledgment as Alex started chewing. After only eating half her soup, she sat back in her chair contemplating her roommate, her small appetite already sated. Alex was always sweet to her like that. It melted her heart a little every time he supported her in spite of his own needs. She started planning on buying them both a spaghetti dinner after a quick visit to Ellis. He could use the break from cooking and she'd love forty five minutes of uninterrupted quiet time with him.

Six hours later Meredith and Alex tiredly slumped in the car on their way to Roseridge.

Meredith had been sorely tempted to delay the visit, but since she'd already postponed twice before, she felt like she just couldn't. Her mom didn't have anyone but her. Alex was being a good sport about it so she'd make this visit as quick as possible, and then it would be done.

Meredith and Alex checked in with the night staff at the front desk first. Meredith asked to see her mother's chart since she was still on the experimental drug trial that Shepherd had put her on. Meredith had to admit that Shepherd had been good about monitoring her mom's progress. Alex looked over her shoulder, balancing himself with a warm hand on her hip as they read Ellis' chart. He liked the feel of Meredith. Maybe it was time to fan their warm relationship into something a little more. He allowed himself to rub his cheek against hers and then pressed his lips to the same place on her delicate skin. Meredith's lips curved upwards in a slight smile and she leaned back into his arms, welcoming the affectionate comfort.

"Come on," Meredith said, reluctantly pulling away from his arms after reading the chart, "A quick stop in my mom's room and then we're out of here."

But Ellis wasn't in her room. Meredith sighed, and she and Alex headed for the visitor parlor. Hopefully, her mom hadn't wandered too far. They rounded the corner and pushed open the door. Meredith stopped stock still at the sight in front of her, causing Alex to barely avoid crashing into her. Then she erupted into a blood curdling scream and leaped across the room, swinging her purse at Derek Shepherd's head with all her might.

"Get away from my mother!" whack, "You filthy pig!", whack, whack, "Derek Shepherd, you are the worst human being I know!" whack, whack, whack, "How could you take advantage of her like that!" whack, whack, "Watching you slurp the plant was bad enough, you douchebag!" whack, "If you come near my mother again I'll have you up in front of the medical review board for unethical practices!" Meredith panted as she cornered the low down cur while he frantically tried to zip his pants, looking far from cute, and then chased him past a thoroughly grossed out and simultaneously amused Alex Karev. Shepherd stopped trying to find excuses in high pitched tones for his lecherous, low actions and simply ran for his life. Meredith finally had blood in her eye and he knew she meant what she said.

"And you!" Meredith turned on Alex, "All you could do was stand there and laugh when that ... that ... _octopus_ was all over my mother!? Ooh!!" She was furious, her hands on her slim hips, ignoring the confused Ellis who was still calling for Dr. Howard, a man she'd had an affair with years before.

_Now,_ Alex thought, _now,_ _she's finally over him. Now it's time._

He signaled two of the attendants, who'd been attracted by the commotion, to take Ellis to her room and settle her down, and then he slowly walked towards Meredith, grinning.

"What!?" she fumed, still arms akimbo.

"You'll do," he grinned, "You didn't need my help kicking his naked ass into next week. You did just fine all on your own. I'd have paid big money to see that," he couldn't help guffawing.

"What? Alex, that creep was on the verge of having sex with my _mother_, for heaven's sake! Ugh! What a complete ass wipe! I can't believe I was ever attracted to that sick lothario! He's nothing but a glorified lounge lizard in a doctor's coat! Alex, what are you doing?"

"Kissing you," Alex said as he gave her a peck on the cheek, "You're finally over him, Mer ... congratulations."

Meredith huffed and puffed a little more, pacing up and down, until she could gradually shift from indignant outrage to calm resignation. It had happened. She'd seen it. The most outrageous sexual combination she could think of had now transpired. Maybe Hellish Fate was finally done shaming, blaming and tormenting her. She could only hope. As for Derek Shepherd – whatever. Who cared about that louse anymore? What was once beautiful and fun, was now ridiculous, lost in a series of betrayals and immature acts, never to be recovered. Meredith wouldn't have Derek again if he begged her. She finally faced Alex who'd made himself comfortable on a settee while Meredith processed.

"Okay, yes, I guess you're right. That was the last straw. I am _over_ McDouchie. Let's go, I can't face my mother right now."

Alex wanted to cheer, but for once he wisely held his tongue, refraining from stirring up hurricane Meredith again. Let the winds die down and the waters recede. Then they could be together without ghosts from the past.


	7. Restart

**The Blossom**

**Chapter 7: Restart **

"Hi," Meredith said a little nervously.

"Hi, yourself," Alex looked up from studying and held a hand out to her.

Meredith joined him on his rickety gurney and leaned over to press a soft kiss to his lips, "The test is in forty minutes, I think you're more than ready."

"Hm, nice," Alex appreciated the buss, "I am, but I'm paranoid since I had to take the boards twice. Meredith, I have to get this right."

"Me, too. I couldn't imagine being left behind. On the Hellish Fate scale of horrible events failing this test is on par with getting left at the altar, being passed over for Chief of Surgery after the promotion was promised (and seeing it go to a hated rival), being left with a one year old baby while your ten year marriage breaks up, or having a fake mommy die unexpectedly and being blamed for it.

"The only thing worse would be to steal a heart from a desperately sick man for your boyfriend and then have your boyfriend die anyway, losing your license, your mind, and your career in the process. Or maybe what's worse is to find out your soul mate is married and then to find out, after he says you're the love of his life, that he is screwing a plant – and oh, by the way, your mother – or maybe to drown and have him not care enough to be there when you woke up," Meredith rambled on down a totally dark and twisty, improbable pathway.

Alex stared at her, stunned by all the negativity.

"What?" she asked, shrugging. Stress was pressing her into dredging up of all the worst case scenarios that she could think of.

"Meredith, okay, yeah, I said I was paranoid, but you take the cake. That stuff just isn't going to happen ... well, okay, half of it already has, but ... Meredith, angel," Alex shoved aside his books and pulled Meredith into his lap, "You're with me now. A pier piling isn't going to fall on you and crush you into unrecognizability. Not even Hellish Fate would be that cruel."

"Really? Are you sure about that, Alex?" Meredith searched his face for reassurance.

"Sure, I'm sure," he smiled, "hey, it occurs to me that we have about ten minutes of free time before we have to get to the test. I can think of something better to do than torture ourselves with outlandish, awful scenarios, can't you?"

Alex cuddled her close and lifted her face to his. Meredith snuggled into his strong arms and let herself relax. Alex represented the truth to her. He didn't lie or manipulate and she needed that. Sometimes his truth was harsh, but she preferred that to the slick evil of Derek's lies or the cruel torque wrenching of Ellis' life long manipulation. Meredith wrapped her arms around Alex' athletic back and sank into his lovely, warm kiss. They didn't seek passion before their test, but they did find comfort and affection and hope. They were also gradually learning each other's bodies – the tender curve of Meredith's cheek, the firm muscles of Alex' chest. The multitude of ties between them strengthened and multiplied daily.

"So, ready?" Alex murmured into her soft, messy hair.

"Yeah ... yes, let's go," said Meredith, and helped Alex stack all his books back into his backpack, "We get through this and we're done with internship, Alex, just think."

"Whooh, let's not go there yet. Let me get through the test, okay?"

"Well, once we do get through it we'll have three solid weeks off," Meredith skipped a little across the hall, "First the test and then time off. Yay."

"A real vacation ... for that I'll not only pass the test, I'll ace it."

They headed up the stairs, happier and with more faith in the future than they'd had in a long time.

Meredith finished the test easily and waited outside for Alex. Cristina had long since finished and had already sped out of the hospital, supremely confident that she'd passed it. George had been obviously struggling. Maybe if he'd paid as much attention to his studies as he did to screwing as many of his colleagues and patients as he could he wouldn't be having trouble now. Alex ignored everything and everyone, fiercely concentrating on his exam. He'd learned his lesson the hard way about not checking every answer twice when he'd had a patient die from his dosage error. He double checked all his math and drug answers carefully. When the proctor called time, Alex heaved a sigh and knew he'd done the best he could.

Elation bubbled through his system. He'd done it. He'd passed. He was sure of it. He walked out of the testing hall and saw Meredith there, waiting for him, her eyebrows raised. Alex grinned and nodded. Meredith squealed in celebration and jumped into his arms, nearly strangling his neck she hugged him so hard.

"We did it, Alex! We're finally done with the longest internship known to man. We're so out of here!" Meredith almost yodeled her words in sheer pride over their tough achievement.

Alex felt the restraint that had been holding him back, until he got through the end of the year, snap at the press of Meredith's soft body. A rare feeling that he finally identified as joy percolated through his system, and he hugged Mer in return just as enthusiastically. Her infectious wind chime laugh rang out when he lifted her and swung her around. Meredith was free now too – free of internship and free of Derek Shepherd. Alex brushed his perfect warm lips over her soft mouth in shared rejoicing, and then kissed her again. She smiled and kissed him back happily. Neither of them cared that they were in full view of O'Malley slinking away, or the Shepherds filling out charts in the conference room across the hall. In fact, Alex gave Addison a wink over Meredith's slim shoulder and quirked a brow at Derek. The perverted pair studiously ignored him, though both flushed. Then Meredith grabbed his attention again with another kiss.

Alex set Meredith on her feet and grabbed her hand, tugging her to the locker room. Chatting and laughing, they changed, got their stuff, and were finally free of the hospital for twenty one straight days. They'd planned a vacation together in a hotel on Maui. Three weeks on a gorgeous Hawaiian beach doing nothing but basking in the sun and making love sounded perfect. Both of them were ready and both of them longed for the next step in their relationship. Each hefted a duffel over a shoulder before playfully racing for the parking lot exit.

Hellish Fate, which was, of course, ... well ... hellish, tripped them as they ran down the staircase. They dove apart to avoid crashing into Izzie Stevens running up the stairs with tears streaming down her face. She latched onto the man she'd cruelly said was not good enough for her or any woman. Then she stretched out a beseeching hand to the woman she'd blithely turned her back on, without once listening to her side of the story, in favor of Ge. Meredith and Alex exchanged glances and then gleaned from Izzie's babbling that Denny had been rushed into the hospital again.

"There may be a heart available from a car accident, but Burke is fighting over it with Dr. Hahn. UNOS is trying to determine if Denny or Hahn's patient is at the top of the transplant list. What do I do? What am I supposed to do?"

"Do? Izzie, you can't _do_ anything, but wait and hope, like all the families of patients who need a transplant. You know that," said Alex, trying to extricate himself from her desperately clutching fingers. He succeeded only when Meredith deliberately stepped between them, standing one step lower than Alex and leaning back against his chest.

Offense flashed across Izzie's face for a moment, then surprise. She'd been absent from their lives so much that she hadn't realized how close they'd become.

_Typical that they're screwing_, she thought ungenerously, _they're both sluts_.

Despite her less than flattering opinion of them, Grey and Karev were the only friends she still had, having driven everyone else away with her cruel tongue. Even George was unavailable to her now after their drunken tryst. Neither Burke nor Denny knew about it and Izzie didn't trust that she could be around George without revealing it – and that just couldn't happen. Burke had to do the transplant for Denny.

_Burke had to do the transplant for Denny... And, in order to do the transplant, Denny had to be at the top of the recipient list... And, in order to be at the top of the recipient list, Denny had to be a lot worse than he was. The LVAD... he couldn't use the LVAD any more. That was it! That was it!! Izzie knew what to do now. If she cut the LVAD wire Denny would get worse. His stats would diminish and he'd get the heart._

Ignoring Karev and Grey as if they were no more than gnats to brush aside, Izzie pushed past them and, without another word, ran up the stairs with a crazed look on her face. Alex groaned. He was exhausted and he'd been looking forward to dinner, dancing and his first time with Meredith. They had a plane to catch tomorrow too. He sighed, but before he could say anything, Meredith spoke.

"Alex, I hate to say it ... I don't want to ... but, I think ... Izzie ... Denny ... we better go," Meredith finished her ramble helplessly, looking up at Karev.

Alex snorted a wry laugh and and ruffled Mer's soft hair, "Okay, doll, but we are on that plane tomorrow, no matter what."

"Absolutely," Meredith gave Alex a hopeful grin, and then lost it when she looked up the stairs.

With sinking feelings in their stomachs they ran after Izzie.

As Meredith rounded the corner of the access hallway to CICU, panic flared and almost choked her. Izzie had reminded her of OJ Simpson as she vaulted over obstacles in the hallways to get to Denny. Meredith couldn't help but think how it had all ended for Nicole Brown Simpson at OJ's hands. Her dark and twisty side intuitively knew there was a correlation here between Izzie and OJ. Meredith shuddered and hustled faster.

Alex raced ahead of her and Mer panted as she tried to keep up and overtake Izzie. She finally caught up with Alex when he skidded to a more discreet fast walk-run through the ICU, following their quarry. Alex and Meredith bumped shoulders as they stopped in the doorway of Denny's room and both of them gaped.

"Izzie!" Meredith yelped at the sight of Izzie holding Denny's LVAD wire wrapped around her fist and frantically searching in the supply cart drawer, looking like a maniacal Dr. Strangelove.

_OJ Simpson and Dr. Strangelove! Not a good combination ... not a good combination at all!_ Meredith's scary and damaged inner voice warned.

"Izzie, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Stop her, Alex!" Meredith cried out when she saw the scalpel in Izzie's hand. She wasn't exactly sure what Izzie planned to do but it just couldn't be good with Izzie sobbing and ranting non stop.

Alex leaped across the room and grabbed Izzie's wrist, commanding, "Izzie, no!", while Meredith leaped into a defensive posture over the unconscious Denny and his equipment. She rapidly checked his monitors and then started trying to get the LVAD wire out of Izzie's hand while Iz was distracted by Alex wrestling to pull the scalpel away from her. The next thing Meredith knew, she had the LVAD wire and Izzie was attacking Alex, her eyes whirling.

Izzie gave a muffled shriek, "... have to cut the wire ... it's the only way ..."

Alex tumbled Izzie to the ground and each of them scrambled to be on top. Alex dominated, sitting on Izzie, and pinning her back to the floor. But she still bucked and strained, her face burning bright red. Meredith covered Denny with her body as best she could as Izzie grabbed trash and stuff off the bottom of the cart and threw it frantically at Denny before Alex could stop her.

" ... have to make him worse! ... don't understand! ... the heart!"

Alex grunted as he fully straddled Izzie and pressed her down while she bucked up. Meredith bent over at the waist and bowed her face over Denny's. The door slapped open and multiple voices gasped in surprise at the sight of Alex and Izzie writhing in passion on the floor while Meredith made out with a patient.

"What do you fools think you're doing in here?!" Bailey snapped furiously.


	8. The Three Stooges

**The Blossom**

**Chapter 8: The Three Stooges **

"What do you fools think you're doing in here?!" Bailey snapped furiously, horribly embarrassed in front of the Chief.

"What?! ... Dr. Bailey! Uh ... I ... wasn't ... Denny's unconscious..." Meredith straightened up with a sharp snap to her spine and a rush of stuttering words. That tone in Bailey's voice still had the ability to make her blood run cold, even after a year of getting used to it. She stumbled backwards and bumped into the IV stand, which crashed into the heart monitor, which banged into the medicine cart, which slammed the window so hard it was surprising it didn't break. Meredith frantically tried to grab anything, making everything worse. Instruments clattered everywhere, raining down on the interns below.

_Oh God, oh God! In front of Bailey, the Chief, Burke and Hart!_

Meredith scrambled to stand upright again, fell over Alex (who was trying manfully to disentangle himself from Izzie and stand up) and ended in a heap over Izzie.

_At least there's a lot to cushion the fall,_ Meredith thought whimsically as Izzie umphed from the blow to her chest.

"Uh ... um ...," Meredith frantically tried to think of something to say while they all struggled to disentangle themselves from each other.

"Grey! Karev! Stevens! Get up off that floor! This instant! Of all the antics I've seen this year, this takes the prize! Were you actually kissing that patient, Dr. Grey? Were you doing that while you, Dr. Karev, and you, Dr. Stevens, were having a tumble on the floor?! Are you three lost to all sensibility and reasonability?!"

"No, Dr. Bailey. We ... uh ... weren't ... we ... Izzie ... Denny ...," Meredith stumbled to a halt at Bailey's livid glare, realizing that the truth was far worse than being called out on outrageous sexual antics.

"It wasn't ..." started Alex, as he tried to get up while still controlling Izzie, only to have his words cut off by an irate Bailey.

"This is a hospital! My hospital! CICU! Not a brothel! I've had it with all of you! Isabelle Stevens! Stand up right now and straighten up. Alexander Karev, keep your hands to yourself. Meredith Grey, get over here."

The three miscreants stood in a ragged lineup while Hellish Fate in the form of Dr. Bailey in a fiery fury unleashed on them. After all the sexual shenanigans at Seattle Grace over the past year Bailey didn't even consider that the situation she'd walked in on was something different than what it appeared. Karev opened his mouth to tell the truth, but shut it again in frustration when Bailey held up a hand at him in the universal 'talk to the hand' sign. Meredith hung her head and accepted her fate – she was used to the hellish nature of it. Izzie's craze actually cooled in contrast to the heat of Bailey's diatribe. Her mental short circuit seemed to be stabilizing for the moment, but both Alex and Meredith stayed on alert for any sign of another cracked head. Then Bailey's next hot words chilled Meredith and Alex to the bone.

"I'm fed up! I'm filing formal complaints against each of you! Your unprofessional conduct has finally caught up with you and you'll all have to pay the price. The board may consider dropping all of you from this program, and good riddance I say!"

All of Bailey's pain, anger and disappointment over her interns from the past year erupted and flowed forth like lava, burning everything it touched, "Chief, I'll file the paperwork before I leave tonight."

"Ah ... well ... Dr. Bailey, I don't believe it was as serious as all that ...," murmured Burke in response to Karev's steady glare and raised eyebrow.

"What?!" Dr. Bailey looked incredulously at Dr. Burke, and then suspiciously at Karev.

"Yes, I ... uh ... quite agree with Dr. Burke," said Dr. Webber in his most diplomatic tones with a horrible false heartiness, "Dr. Grey was obviously checking Mr. Duquette's breathing, yeah, that's it, and Karev and Stevens ..." the Chief paused, searching for something plausible since he owed Grey and Karev for not gossiping about his liason with Addison when almost anyone else would have.

"Exactly what is going on here?" Bailey asked through gritted teeth, her eyes flashing from one to the other, while her toe tapped.

"Alex was helping Izzie," Meredith filled in the gap since Alex was still busy silently holding their own sexual indiscretions over the Chief's and Burke's heads, "Then they tripped and fell all tangled together, like I did just now."

"... helping Izzie!?" the look on Bailey's face was priceless, "Do you _really_ expect me to believe ..."

"It's the truth, Dr. Bailey. I was trying to help her. I've had absolutely no sexual interest in Isabelle Stevens since she tried to castrate me with her words. And, believe me, after this I won't try to help her again. Okay!?" there was no denying the truth of his statement when his face was clearly stamped with annoyance rather than passion.

Everyone looked from him to Izzie, but when she spoke it wasn't about Alex, "The heart? Dr. Burke? Did Denny get the heart?"

Everyone tensed and stared at Burke, the sexual nonsense being set aside for the reality of their work.

"No, Dr. Stevens. I believe he would have, but Dr. Hahn's patient suddenly got much worse when his wife cut his LVAD wire," Dr. Burke shook his head, "Can you believe someone would do something so immoral, so unethical and so dangerous? She stole Denny's heart and her husband will most likely die anyway from the complications she caused. I'm sorry, Dr. Stevens. Denny will have to wait for the next one. That's what we were coming here to tell you and Denny."

Izzie's face crumbled and tears fell down her cheeks again. Meredith's face was sad, but Alex' expression hardened.

"Karma's a bitch, Izzie, this is what you would have done to her if you could have. She beat you to it. How does it feel?" he murmured in her ear so no one else heard him.

Then Alex held his hand out to Meredith, "And, by the way, Dr. Bailey, if you were to catch me _really_ having sex on the floor with someone, it wouldn't be with Izzie, it'd be with my girlfriend – Meredith."

He grimly waited while that information bombshell exploded and was absorbed by everyone. The Chief looked glad and thoughtful as he rubbed his chin. Burke and Hart exchanged looks, both thinking about Meredith's year long infatuation with Dr. Shepherd. Dr. Bailey carefully examined everyone's face again. Maybe she had been wrong about what she'd seen when she first came in. If so, what had her interns _really_ been up to? Maybe it was better she didn't know, she thought, but changed her mind again when she looked at Izzie Stevens again. Izzie had been up to something. That she knew. She'd have to keep an eagle eye on her.

"Excuse us, we're off duty for the next three weeks and I don't want to waste any more of it," Alex stated.

With that Alex tugged Meredith firmly out the door in spite of her looking over her shoulder at the quietly weeping Izzie.

"Let's go, Meredith, before Hellish Fate takes another swing at us."

Meredith walked along beside him occasionally glancing at his rock hard jaw and narrowed eyes.

"Hey, we were due to be walked in on after all the people we've caught, Alex," she bit her lip as a completely inappropriate nervous giggle rose up, "Just think, it could have been a lot worse. It actually could have been the two of us on the floor. Thank goodness it wasn't."

Then she gurgled with laughter at the thought of the Chief making improbable excuses for them. Alex stopped for a moment and stared at her giggling helplessly.

"C'mon, Mer, you're hysterical, we have to get out of here fast!"

Meredith laughed harder. When they swept past the puzzled He-She-Shepherds out into the night Meredith laughed so hard she thought she'd wet herself. Everything was just too funny. Alex jerked his car door open and stuffed Meredith inside, grumpy beyond belief. This was NOT how he'd planned the start of their time off! Meredith couldn't help giggling at his sour expression. The whole thing had completely amused her dark and twisty side.


	9. The Blossom

**The Blossom**

**Chapter 9: The Blossom **

Meredith had regained some control by the time they'd pulled up to a restaurant. She knew better than to say anything else to Alex until he got some food in his stomach. The mad, sad, hungry, tired states of being that AA warned were danger states for an alcoholic were also danger states for Alex's sense of humor. It wouldn't return until he'd eaten and got a little distance between himself and that last bout of Seattle Grace sexual mania.

Meredith snuggled under Alex's arm in their booth and quietly sipped her wine while Alex sipped a beer. They gradually relaxed and when the food came they ate with appetite. She smiled at Alex after his plate was empty and raised her glass.

"Congratulations on completing internship, Dr. Karev," she said wanting to get back to a celebratory state.

Alex grinned and raised his frosty mug, "You too, Dr. Grey."

They clinked glasses and drank. Happiness swirled between them again.

"Who knew seeing all those naked encounters over the last few months would actually be beneficial in the end?" Meredith commented pertly, "You did good, Alex. Thanks. You stopped Izzie from committing the mistake of a lifetime."

"Well, I didn't hear any thanks coming from anyone else, Mer," Alex said wryly, "So thanks for noticing."

"Aw, I always notice your sweetness, Alex," Meredith breathed into his ear and kissed his perfect jawline, "You've never been able to hide it from me the way you have from the others."

Alex slowly turned his head, giving her time to back away if she wanted to, and gently brushed his perfectly chiseled lips over her soft mouth. Emotion swelled in his chest making him almost gasp for air when Meredith trustingly lifted her face to his and deepened the kiss. It amazed him that she was brave enough to give their relationship a genuine chance after only five months of recovery from McNameless. He was lucky, so lucky to have her in his life.

Alex's emotional response made his kiss heaven for Meredith. She drank in his admiration and passion, his hot sexuality and ... yes ... his love. As soon as Meredith admitted to herself that Alex loved her, her heart opened and poured itself into their luscious union. She opened her mouth and let Alex plumb her sweet, moist depths in a beautiful precursor of what was to come.

He gently stroked his fingertips over the side of her face, her ear, and her hair enjoying the soft textures. She shivered in response to his sweet tongue and gentle touch. Alex made love surprisingly with a delicate, refined sensibility, Meredith thought, everything was perfect for her.

They reluctantly parted and looked deeply into each other's eyes, each looking for something, each satisfied with what he or she found. It was a timeless, speechless moment of warm connection. In agreement they slid from the booth. Alex dropped cash on the table and they unhurriedly walked together to the car. Alex let the top down on his old convertible and they cruised through the night letting the fresh, ocean scented air blow away the day and any insecurities. Both were committed, and both knew the time was right. The seed of their current relationship had been planted a year ago and was about to burst into full blossom.

Alex parked, put the top up on his car, and unhurriedly walked around to open the door for Meredith. He handed her out and then, smiling in anticipation, they walked into their house.

"Let's light the fire, Alex," Meredith murmured.

For a second he wasn't sure what she meant and then she gracefully indicated the hearth. Amused at his own misunderstanding, he bent to turn on the gas starter while Meredith poured drinks. Soon, they sat in front of a lovely fire with snifters of cognac warming in their hands. Meredith's grandmother's thick rugs and pillows cushioned the floor, so after Meredith felt her drink spreading through her, she curled down comfortably into them and gazed at Alex's beautiful firelit face. He was so James Dean gorgeous he could have been a Calvin Klein model. She traced her fingers in patterns over his jean clad thigh, from his knee to his bulging crotch. Naughtily, she let her fingers lightly explore and tease that bulge until Alex was almost writhing in anticipation. He jerked a strip of condoms from his pocket and set them out to use as she continued to tease him. He finally caught her tempting hand and pressed it tightly to his straining body for a moment before he sank down into her welcoming arms.

They met each other so naturally it was as if this moment had been ordained from the beginning. They hadn't rushed it but let time pass as they grew closer and closer, learning each other in ways neither had ever experienced before. They'd both discovered the joys of a blossoming relationship as opposed to a hurried one night stand. It made all the difference in the world to Meredith.

For the first time in her life she felt genuinely treasured and cherished as Alex undressed them both and made love to her. She'd never really understood the meaning of that word before Alex gave her his body and his heart. It melted frozen places inside Meredith that had been forgotten for years.

Meredith moaned in ecstasy as Alex lovingly filled her body in a dream come true. Her head fell back over a pillow exposing her throat to his warm tongue and nibbling kisses. Sensation sparked from her throat to her breasts and beaded her nipples while waves of pleasure built between her legs. Alex slowed his pace to extend their pleasure, enjoying the moans rippling almost continuously from the woman beneath him.

Sensation built in Meredith until she spread her thighs wide to accept his full thrust and then interlocked her ankles over the small of his back and her wrists over the back of his heart. She clung to her lover with all her strength and gratefully, happily became one with him body, heart, and spirit.

"Alex ... oooh ... I ... don't think ... I'll last ... much longer ... oh! Pleeease! Pleeease! Alex!" Meredith moaned and almost screamed in pleasure as Alex shifted to the perfect alignment and pounded her over her peak. Then she really did scream loudly and long. He felt his own orgasm organize itself and explode just as he kissed her deeply one last time, drinking her sexy cries.

"Oh my God, I knew it would be hot, but I had no idea how good it would really be," Alex groaned as he rolled to the side, pulling Meredith with him. She moaned in response but couldn't form words yet so Alex rolled the rest of the way over. Meredith was drawn on top of him, where she settled her face in his throat and her legs on either side of his hips. They were still carnally joined while they both dozed, satisfied, but unwilling to part, in front of the fire.

Alex drifted in and out of sleep and pleasure until his hardening body drew him fully awake. Meredith was sitting up, her hands braced on his chest, while she rocked back and forth, up and down. Her breasts swayed and bobbed to her rhythm as she rode him. Alex tucked his hands under his head and enjoyed the show. His sexy smile was singularly sweet and appreciative when he stopped resisting and fondled her bouncing breasts in both hands.

Meredith brought them both to joy a second time and collapsed over him bonelessly. Since the fire was going out and it was getting cold, Alex carried a sleepy Meredith up the stairs to her deep bathtub and bed.

"Don't leave, 'kay?" Meredith murmured against Alex's shoulder later as they curled together for sleep, "I couldn't bear it if you left now. I want you in my life."

Alex kissed the top of her head and murmured back amusedly, "I'm not leaving, Meredith, and I'm glad I performed well enough that you didn't want to kick me out of your bed five minutes after we made love."

Meredith tilted her head back so she could look into his face, "Funny, you're a funny man."

"That's why you want me, admit it, I'm funny and I'm fun, as well as dark and twisty. The next six years are going to be great."

"Yeah, they are. Thanks, Alex."

_**This is the last chapter of my dark and twisty story. It was different and fun to write even though I made few friends by showing Derek through Rose colored glasses. I have to say though that I really only exaggerated Shonda's Derek (except for the Ellis part) a little. Think about it. She turned him into someone I don't enjoy watching – which is a tough thing to do with gorgeous Patrick Dempsey, for pete's sake. I thought I'd be so happy at the end of S4, but instead I was incredibly put off by Derek once again blaming and shaming Meredith at work followed by yet another rapid turn around when the patient lived. I was also put off by Meredith claiming to be all fixed for him, like everything was all her fault and he was responsible for nothing. When is his visit to the shrink scheduled, Shonda? Mer, don't take him back until he's all fixed for you, too. Grrrr.**_


End file.
